fantendofandomcom-20200222-history
Featherweight
Featherweight is a racing game developed and published by Pixelburst Gaming for the Nintendo Switch. It is considered a spiritual successor to Kirby Air Ride, borrowing its basic control scheme and tweaking the balance of the gameplay through the addition of its spell mechanic. The game is set in Auster, a warm and tropical fantasy world where Humans live in harmony with large land-based birds called Mephoru and racing has become a popular pastime, but is endangered when a malevolent being threatens to reawaken the dark god Raven. Gameplay The majority of gameplay takes place on racetracks, with players taking control of a team consisting of a Rider and a Mephoru and moving across the track to complete specific goals. In the midst of most races, players should keep track of two specific stats: * Health is the more important of the two stats, especially in Battle Rules races. Whenever a character takes a hit, they will lose Health, with the exact amount being determined by Power and Vitality. When a racer loses health, they either lose speed for three seconds and risk falling behind, lose a shield, or are pulled out of the race completely when out of shields. * Mana is only slightly less important by Health, but can be more useful by far if used properly. In most races, each character has access to four spells. These spells are used to seize places from foes or to defend your current spot in the rankings, and can make or break a strategy. When depleted, Mana will slowly regenerate. The speed is dependent on various factors in races. Players have the ability to Charge - one of the gameplay mechanics borrowed from Kirby Air Ride. Charging causes the player to lose speed, but will grant them a short but large boost in speed when released. Players with this speed boost can ram into rivals to deal damage. Charging can also be used to drift past tighter corners. Players also have access to two types of movement - Running and Flying. Running is generally faster, and allows the player to cast spells, while Flying is somewhat slower and can only be used when they have the speed boost from a Charge, but grants access to a variety of shortcuts. Grand Prix mode The main gameplay mode for multiplayer, though it can be played with one player and multiple NPCs. Grand Prix mode is split into multiple smaller gamemodes, all competitive in nature and all perfect for having fun with friends. And, of course, all gamemodes under Grand Prix are capable of online multiplayer. Feather Cup One of the Grand Prix modes. This gameplay mode is an eight-player race to the finish, and combat follows Race Rules - that is, characters cannot be knocked out of the race by losing all their health, but instead receive a speed penalty for three seconds before regaining all their health. Racer’s Cup One of the Grand Prix modes. This gameplay mode is an eight-player race to the finish where combat more closely resembles Mario Kart - by collecting Tomes or defeating enemies on the racetrack, players can pick up predetermined spells which (though requiring no prep time or Mana to use) are used up when casted. Health is not an issue either - hitting a player with a spell will cause that player to stop momentarily, and how long they’re stopped for is determined by their Vitality. Fighter’s Cup One of the Grand Prix modes. This gameplay mode is an eight-player battle royale taking place on a looping track, where the goal is to be the last player or team of players standing. Combat in this gamemode follows Battle Rules - if you lose all your health, you lose a shield, which marks your lives. Lose three shields, and you’re out! Game over! Knowing when to use spells is ideal in this gamemode. Rider’s Quest mode The game’s story mode. Rider’s Quest mode can be played by up to two players, and takes them through the tale of how a small group of Riders and Mephoru managed to stop the rise of Raven, a malevolent deity. Missions in this mode are varied, with some as simple as beating enemies in a race or defeating them all, and others slightly more complex like completing a race without defeating enemies or casting spells, and some as strange as managing to get defeated by a specific enemy. You will also face bosses! Characters Players are able to select a team prior to racing. Each team consists of one Rider and their Mephoru ally, and each team is defined by their own unique spells and weapons. Magic Magic is a key gameplay element, being present in every gamemode in some form. Nearly every spell costs Mana to use, but each can change the balance of a race entirely. Trivia * This game draws from multiple places when it comes to its inspiration. ** The basic concept is actually inspired by the user named White Kirby. His works were frowned upon for a myriad of reasons, with one being that his namesake character was literally just a white Kirby, and he defended this design choice by saying that the protagonist would have to be some sort of Kirby because it was inspired by Kirby Air Ride. This game, which has gameplay heavily inspired by Kirby Air Ride, is basically Ink’s rebuttal. *** These origins are referenced by one of the teams in the game - Basilisk and Blanc, whose pale color scheme, dragon- and beetle-themed Mephoru armor, and role as self-proclaimed heroes who are actually assholes are all based off of White Kirby’s character. ** The ability to cast spells while riding Mephoru is inspired by Final Fantasy. ** The concept of bird riders is somewhat similar to the idea of Loftwings in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - giant birds that form bonds with inhabitants of Skyloft at a young age - as well as the Chocobos from Final Fantasy. With this in mind, Mephoru were designed to be more similar to roadrunners or feathered velociraptors rather than traditional birds or ostriches. *** The similarities between Mephoru and Final Fantasy’s Chocobo are referenced by one of the characters in the game - Aerora, whose name and appearance are inspired by Final Fantasy’s Black Mage, and Vanilla, their yellow Mephoru, inspired by the Chocobos. *** The inspirations drawn from miscellaneous Nintendo games prompted the creation of Commodore Tonendin and Falco, who are inspired by F-Zero's Captain Falcon and Star Fox's Falco. Tonendin's name is also an anagram of Nintendo. Category:Racing Games Category:Multiplayer Games Category:Ink's Stuff Category:Ink's Games Category:Nintendo Switch Games